So. African Jews Urged Not to Support Unauthorized Fund-raising

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies and the South African Zionist Federation issued a joint appeal to the Jewish public not to support any unauthorized fund-raising campaigns. The appeal reads:

“Recently, there have been unauthorized overseas appeals on such a scale that without any doubt the collections for the major causes, notably the United Communal Fund for South African Jewry, have been seriously affected. The South African Jewish Board of Deputies and the South African Zionist Federation have come to the conclusion that the stage has been reached where it is necessary to take firm action against the launching of unauthorized overseas appeals.

“Applications on behalf of institutions in Israel should be submitted to the South African Zionist Federation, except in so far as religious and philanthropic institutions in Israel are concerned. The latter, and also applications from countries outside Israel, should be submitted to the South African Jewish Board of Deputies. Applications should be submitted before the representatives of the institutions concerned arrive in this country.

“No campaign will be authorized unless this procedure is followed. The Board of Deputies and the Zionist Federation call upon the Jewish public not to support any un-authorized campaigns.”

The statement emphasized that neither the Board nor the Federation sought to exclude “deserving overseas causes.” But, it added, there is. “an evident necessity for the proper regulation of fund-raising appeals to the community. It pledged that applications from overseas groups would be “scrutinized in the light of the merits of the organizations concerned.”